by Jana LaPelle
I now know how uncertain I am of what the future holds, now that I’m making decisions for two and I reluctantly agree, “Okay Jaz, I think you’re right. I could use a friend with me.”
She beams at me as she flitters about, “Ash you won’t be disappointed in your decision. I just need to know the time and the place.”
“Two nights time, under a waxing moon. Wait for me at the entrance to the forest. No one knows that I know the day that the blood contract goes into effect, so keep that little bit of information to yourself as well. I know that I’m asking a lot but if Alaric finds out about any of this…” I trail off, as I try to think about how to categorize the storm that Alaric would become. It would be like a category five hurricane wreaking havoc on everything in its wake. It will be epic, and I hate that I will be the catalyst.
"I get it, Ash. Mum’s the word." She says and then whispers, “Okay. So…What do we do about everyone else that heard your lopsided conversation with the Tree of Life?”
“Oh snap.” I panic as I look around to see everyone closely engaged in our conversation. “No, no, no. This can’t be happening. No one can know!”
“My Lady, you can trust us. We are humbly at your service. No one here will breathe a word of what we have heard here this night. We understand what is at stake. You are the High Princess to all The Realm and have been granted favor with The Tree of Life. We are at your service. My name is Jade, I’m a dryad, and I will assure you that your secret is safe with us, until the time that you deem to share your news with all The Realm. Just so you know, it is indeed something to celebrate. Do not fret. All will be as it should be.” The dryad before me drops a curtsy and then begins to usher everyone away.
"Thank you, Jade. I will not forget your kindness." I say. “Jasmine, will I see you before our set rendezvous?”
“If you want me to keep this to myself, not a good idea, you know how I like to run my mouth. I will remain detained until our rendezvous. I hope that is okay with you? If you need me to be there, then I will be in a heartbeat.” My little pixie friend says.
“Jaz, I will miss seeing you every day, but I think in order to keep everything under wraps your plan is the best course of action. Thank you for doing this for me. I’m really not sure what we are going to walk into; you’re probably better prepared for that than I am. Okay then, I've been gone long enough, and I need to get back before Alaric misses me. I’ll see you soon.” I say before I step away and allow myself to travel back to the Keep, to travel home and back to Alaric.
Chapter 2
(Ashlinn)
Brilliant blue eyes are intently staring down at me when I open my own. Startled, I jerk upright in a start knocking heads with my kindred before sputtering, “Ouch… What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be asleep. Where’s my father?” I ask rubbing my aching forehead.
“By the goddess woman, that hurt! I relieved your father of his watch about fifteen minutes ago. What’s going on with you? What are you keeping from me Ashlinn? That’s the more important question.” He narrows his eyes at me as he continues. “When I came down looking for you, he said you were looking for answers. Answers to what? Don’t you think that I feel how you are tempering our link? You’ve been very quiet for the last few days. What’s going on?” He asks again, as those intense blue eyes bore into me.
“I just…” Sighing, I shake my head and try to calm my rattled nerves. “I didn’t want to worry you. You’ve been working night and day to formulate how to tackle this crisis. You need your rest. I thought that maybe if I visited The Tree of Life that she would be able to answer some questions, but she was very cryptic, and I have come away with more questions than answers. It doesn’t matter now. Alaric, you’ve barely rested in the last few days, come on, let’s go back to bed.” I say. Taking his hand in mine, I stand and pull him inside toward the stairs.
“I’m not letting you off that easy, love. I want you to open up to me in more ways than one.” He says, all the while boring holes in my carefully blank façade.
I look up at my lover, my soul mate and ask solemnly, "I need you to trust me. Can you do that? I know it's hard, and I know you want, no… need to protect me. But here’s the thing. You need to know the path that I must walk will take me away from you but only for a short time because I belong to you. You are my strength, my love, my life, and you hold my very soul in your hands. I trust that you will take care of it while I'm away. I love you, and as much as it pains me, this is something that I must do. I need you to be strong and to come for me because I may not be able to come back to you of my own accord.” I say as tears fill my eyes.
His large but gentle hands come up to frame my face, “Mo grá, I will always come for you. Nothing will keep me from you. Nothing. For what it’s worth you are the strongest woman I know, and we will weather this storm. I know that you’re still keeping something from me. Whatever it is you can trust me." He says earnestly, and it breaks my heart to keep this secret from him.
I swallow the lump in my throat, feeling sick, as I say with a small smile, "I trust you above all others. I have faith that you will be there to catch me when I fall, and if I’m shattered, I trust you to be there when I put myself back together again." I know that I have not convinced him, and say, "Do you trust me to do what I need to do to save The Realms? It may not be what we want, but my path is clear. All you have to do is come for me when the time is right." I say as I pull him to me in a fierce hug, clinging to my mate, my kindred.
“Come, mo grá. This conversation is far from over, but I will concede for tonight. It's late. Did you see that Maith has chocolate cake in the kitchen? I know it’s your favorite. I almost took a detour when I saw that.” He says playfully.
“Do you want some? I’ve already had mine. It was really good.” I say smiling up at him before my smile drops. “Don’t ever forget that I love you. Okay?” I ask of my mate.
“Ashlinn, whatever it is, please just tell me. What is going on in that head of yours?” He asks before we make it to the stairs. His concern is so raw and evident through our bond that it has me bristling at my deceit. I'm tempted to confide in him before rational thought overrides my bad judgment.
I smile up at him changing the subject as I say, “Come on Elf-Man, I believe that I was already asleep when you came to bed. I missed my daily dose of you. We can’t have that now, can we? What do you say we make up for lost time? I'm feeling a little needy tonight, and the only thing that will help is you.” I reach up and pull his mouth down to mine for a kiss. It starts slow and gentle but as always the fire builds in both of us, and soon our lips are dancing a tango, and we are consumed in one another. Alaric reaches down and hoists me up, and I wrap my legs around him. Slowly, he climbs the stairs to our rooms as we take pleasure in one another. Once we make it into our room, he closes the door behind us, and I revel in the fact that we have all night in one another's arms. That’s exactly what I need and what I want. I need for my kindred to know how much I love him.
The next two days fly by with an incredible speed and before I know it I'm mere hours from my premonition becoming a reality. My nerves are on edge; I'm testy, and I'm having a difficult time concentrating. I know that the Druids are working with the witch that was responsible for casting the dark majic that binds the blood contract but that gives me little comfort. I attempt to continue my now daily routine but I miss sparring with Tolin, so I ask if we can pick up where we left off. Really, I just want some alone time with my favorite half of TNT, Tolin, and Torin, the handsome mischievous Fomorian brothers.
He confronts me right away, and he looks at me questioningly. “What’s up, Ash?”
“Why does there have to be anything up?” I ask immediately taking the offensive.
"Because you and Lorcan have been sparring for well over a week now? You two seem to be making some progress, so I’ll ask again, what’s up?” He prods, the mischievous twinkle gone from his eyes, replaced by grim seriousness.
“Ok
ay. Then maybe I’ll switch back.” I shrug, hoping to sound nonchalant but my feelings are hurt.
"No, you don't get to get off that easily. I think we need to talk." He mutters, suspicion in his voice.
“You’re being difficult. Whatever.” I say pushing away from him, and I walk away. Everyone on the training ground is watching us, and I have to tread carefully now. I can’t afford to appear weak, especially with everything that is about to go down.
Hearing Tolin approach, I calculate my move as he comes up behind me. Just as he's about to reach me, I drop down and swing my leg around, taking him off guard, sweeping his legs out from under him. Tolin lands with a dull thud.
"What the hell, Ash! I just wanted to talk to you for a few minutes." He says, glaring up at me.
“That was for giving me a hard time. Since you obviously have a problem training with me, I’ll go work with my knives.” I say as I stomp away.
"Ashlinn, that's not what I meant, and you know it!" Tolin says as he quickly gains his feet and grabs my elbow forcing me to turn toward him. “What’s going on? You’re more on edge than I have ever seen you. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. Everyone has. You’re quiet and introspective. ”
“You’re imagining things.” I snap back, knowing that I’m taking my bad mood out on him, not being able to help myself. I stalk over to the throwing range that has been set up and start attacking the targets with my blades. I think that I like my throwing knives even better than the bow. It’s more aggressive, and I'm able to take my frustrations out better with the action involved in actually throwing the knives. I find the whole process cathartic in nature.
"Common on, Little Bit, don't be like that. Let's go take a walk." Tolin says. I soften at his term of endearment toward me, and I allow him to escort me through the courtyard, into the Keep, back to the library, and out the terrace doors down to the water's edge. I guess that he wants some privacy from everyone else. I promptly stomp over to the water's edge and sit cross-legged on the ground and stare out over the water. I smile as my gaze lands on the waterfall in the distance, remembering my night there with Alaric.
Sighing heavily, I offer up the olive branch. “Tolin, I’m sorry for taking my bad mood out on you. That was not my intent." I say quietly, as he takes his seat next to me. I can feel Alaric probing our link to make sure that I’m okay. I respond to his probing by saying, “I'm okay. I promise Elf-Man."
Tolin takes a sideline glance at me, his massive forearms propped up on his bent knees, before turning his gaze back out to the lake. The lake is large and teaming with life. I’ve learned that here it’s called a loch and is actually quite deep.
He sighs before saying, “You want to talk about it?” His gaze is not on me but on the lake.
“What’s to talk about?” I ask in agitation. “This is a subject that we have literally talked to death over the last month, and honestly I'm tired of all the talk, the waiting, and the not knowing how all of this is going to pan out. I have powers of premonition that only kick in when they want to, and it's pissing me off! I know that I need more time but time is now my enemy. I can't seem to catch a break, and I'm tired of keeping my game face on, all… the… time! I'm worried about how Alaric is going to react once he realizes that I'm gone, and I won't be able to do a damn thing about it! I really hate being excluded from your discussions on the rescue plan, but I understand that the less I know, the better the odds are that things will work out in the end. I feel helpless, and that’s pissing me off! So I guess to sum it up, I’m just generally pissed, the hell, off!” I finish my rant as I get up to pace and notice that flames are now licking up my finger tips to my forearms.
Tolin stands and pins his gaze on me before saying, "Well, it's about time. You've been holding on to that for a while. Now that you got that off your chest I think we can go train, but I'm not going to be your punching bag, Ash. We have a dummy for that, and you’re going to use it to release all these pent up emotions. Unless you want to lob fireballs at my head, I’m pretty sure that I could evade your wicked aim.” He says with a cocky smile and a twinkle in his eyes.
I'm still frustrated, but my mood has softened. I guess I really did need to unload on someone. Just for fun and in the spirit of lightening the mood, I say, “You’re on, T.” I pull the flames to me and form a flaming ball.
“Whoa. Ashlinn, I was just kidding about the fireballs.” He hedges and begins to back up with his hands in the air. “I thought we would go back to train with the others.”
“I’m just following your direction. You did suggest this exercise to help with my frustrations. You better run, T.” I say with a little smile as I aim wide and direct the fireball over his head and into the lake to dissipate harmlessly.
Grinning, Tolin saunters in my direction and says in a laughing tone, “You missed on purpose. Do you feel better? Getting some of that off your chest and letting your inner pyro out? You know you don't have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. It's okay to look for some help when you need it. I know you're worried about Alaric, and I won't lie, he’s going to lose his shit when all this goes down. Just know that we have his back, and we'll pick him up. We'll put him back together again the best we can until we can get you back. Tarron will not know what hit him after I'm done with him. No one messes with you, Ash. I mean no one. I will not rest until you are back where you belong, back with your family." Tolin pulls me into a crushing hug, and I return his embrace, clinging to the one male that has become more like a brother to me than a Guardian.
“I love you too, big guy. I expect you to go all berserker on their asses.” I say smiling into his solid wall of a chest. My eyes damp with unshed tears.
From behind me, I can sense Alaric approach, and he says, "So, the two of you are good? I was beginning to worry. Ashlinn, you've become extremely proficient in blocking me. I had to come find you to see for myself." He's pissed, and I feel like crap. I hate that what I'm doing is starting to put a wedge between us.
Needing to put a positive spin on things I turn to my kindred and ask, “So even though I’m blocking you, you can still follow our link?” I look up at him questioningly, knowing the answer.
“Of course, Ashlinn, where are you going with this? He asks narrowing his eyes at me.
“I’m afraid that our link will be affected, I'm not sure that our binding can be dissolved, but what if through the blood contract our link is muted or even blocked. We need to be able to sense our link to one another even if dark majic attempts to tamper with it. Who knows where Tarron will take me once he has me." I say.
“Where would he go?” Tolin asks as he releases his hold on my and Alaric considers my words.
“That’s what you need to ask yourself. Do you really think that he will stay in his Keep once he has me? You two are just an hour’s ride apart. You’ve practically declared war on one another. There is a plan in place. Make no mistake about it. It doesn’t make sense for him to keep me within arm’s reach. Does it?” Again I’m going on my gut instinct since my powers of premonition have abandoned me for the time being, which just irritates the hell out of me.
“So that’s why you have been locking me out?” Alaric asks as he narrows his eyes at me.
No, but he can’t know that so I deflect, “Think of it as an exercise in patience.” I say, smiling sweetly at my kindred pushing all the love I feel for him through our bond. Switching gears, I ask, “Has anyone heard from Garrik? How’s he doing?”
"There have been two very brief communications, but everything seems to be going according to plan," Tolin says briefly.
Alaric looks at me and then swings his gaze to Tolin and says, “T, I need a moment with my kindred. I need you to meet up with the rest of the Guard and make ready to head out.” He returns his gaze to me and says, “Ashlinn, we ride out within the next hour or so. The Dagda left this morning. An army is amassing, and they are marching in our direction. My uncle wants us to ride out and meet them half way. They are eag
er to meet the Champion of the Tree of Life." He says with a slight smile.
“How many warriors?” I ask as I ponder how this evening will go down. Now I know why Alaric is not going to be here. “When will you be back?”
“More than five hundred, no surprise Tarron's father refuses to send troops our way. He is effectively aligning with The Morrígan as are the Western Territories. We hear that there is discord within the ranks. The Eastern Territories are amassing their warriors as we speak and should be here within the next several days. I ride to greet the troops that have been gathered from my father’s territory. Unfortunately, I believe that we will be evenly matched. Arrangements are being made to set up a camp in the valley to accommodate the numbers. Your father’s warriors are making their way here and total over two hundred shifters, not just Panther, but shifters of all kinds. They will come in handy as will my newly acquired shifting ability. I’m working with Nemus. He’s working on an enchantment that will allow me to shift back and forth without shredding my clothes and losing my weapons.” He says as he wraps an arm around me pulling me close before saying, “I don’t want to leave you. Time is getting away from us. I feel like we’re living on borrowed time. I won’t be long. I should be back by morning we’ll ride through the night if need be.” He holds me close and places a kiss on the top of my head.
I close my eyes and savor his scent and the feeling of being wrapped up in his arms. Then I reach for his hand and pull him toward the stairs to our tower. My intent is clear. We have a limited amount of time before he leaves, and I won’t see him again until the dust settles once the blood contract is voided. I need to reaffirm the connection between us one last time.